People and Organisations: Principles and Practice in Global Contexts (MN7181): The Global Context for HRM (Blog 8)

Definition to Global HRM

In relation to HRM, globalisation is presented as a force that even if not yet leading to convergence in HR practice is certainly leading to a challenge to national mindsets (Sparrow and Hiltrop, 1997).

With the advent of globalisation, organisations - big or small have ceased to be local, they have become global. This has increased the workforce diversity and cultural sensitivities have emerged like never before. All this led to the development of Global Human Resource Management.

(Video 1: International HRM)

ManagementStudyGuide (2018), enumerate the objectives of global HRM as follows:

Create a local appeal without compromising upon the global identity.
Generating awareness of cross cultural sensitivities among managers globally and hiring of staff across geographic boundaries.
Training upon cultures and sensitivities of the host country.

The Impact of Technology on Global HRM

Technical evolution is intimately connected with the development of service center models. Consequently, more and more service center activities can now be put online in order to develop the ethos of employee self-service or self-reliance. Operations behind the scenes to handle this service may be managed in-house or may be outsourced to firms that have the technological expertise to offer such services at low cost, but the ability to answer employee questions on behalf of the employing organisation (Ulrich, 2000).

(Figure 1: Impact of Information Technology on HRM)

Ghoshal and Gratton (2002) express four important integration activities that the corporate HR center can make a unique contribution as noted below,

Operational integration through standardized technology. - e-enablement of HR on a global scale. Portals can provide a common front to employees and help integrate the HR function around common processes. This is a form of information-based integration within the HR function.

Intellectual integration through the creation of a shared knowledge base. - By focusing on creating, sharing and exchanging knowledge both within and beyond the HR community, corporate HR functions can ensure that the intellectual capital of the function is rapidly codified and shared across constituent HR functions.

Social integration through the creation of collective bonds of performance. This is where the function develops a clear sense of what it wants to achieve and how it wants to achieve this goal. The shift within global HR towards working through global networks is an example of new patterns of social integration.

Emotional integration through a sense of shared identity and meaning. This concerns the mobilization of hearts and minds behind change processes. Examine the need for international HR professionals to act as guardians of national culture as they negotiate a new balance between the application of global rule-sets to HR processes and the need for local responsiveness to cultural imperatives.

References

Ghoshal, S. and Gratton, L. (2002) ‘Integrating the enterprise’, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 44 (1), pp. 31-38.

ManagementStudyGuide (2018), [Online] Available at : https://www.managementstudyguide.com/global-hrm.htm [Accessed on: 30th Sept 2018].

Sparrow, P. R. and Hiltrop, J. M. (1997) ‘Redefining the field of European human resource management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition’, Human Resource Management, Vol. 36 (2), pp. 1-19.

Ulrich, D. (2000) ‘From eBusiness to her’, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 20(3), pp. 12–21.

Figure 1: Nelson, (2005) Impact of Information Technology on HRM, Thomson Canada Limited, [Online] Available at : http://hesed.info/blog/hrm-technologies.abp [Accessed on: 30 Sept 2018].